Somebody help me wrap my head around this.

245

Replies

  • magnusthenerd
    magnusthenerd Posts: 1,207 Member
    Thyroid shouldn't particularly account for the differences from predicted to tracked TDEE - that's more likely to a hundred or two hundred calories off for someone with a no longer functional thyroid from what I've read. Not to mention, it should manifest as a lack of energy and activity. Still, blood work is usually cheap, so getting a test doesn't seem unreasonable.

    At 7 weeks, it seems unlikely he's retained water from exercise to explain it.

    Are there any foods he tends to regularly eat that you don't? I'm wondering if there's a bad entry or two, but only on things he eats so the calorie is coming in low affecting just his numbers.
  • ExistingFish
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
    J72FIT wrote: »
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    Taking a step back...

    Aside from the numbers not lining up the way you'd expect, are there any issues here? Any reason to suspect/worry about a greater health concern?

    2100 cals for maintenance or slightly below with the changes in his body that he's seeing... I'd call that a win.

    No, just that he is overweight. He's lost a lot (a year ago) and some more before that. He was 270 at his highest, he lost that about 3 years ago, down to 210, then he gained back to about 230 and then last year he lost down to below 200, he's just really wanting to go all the way to his goal this time. I think partly because Iost all of my weight, I'm ready to move on to different fitness goals, he feels like he's been left behind.

    I find it frustrating, I keep telling him to count calories and trust that it will work and that it's science and it will work, and for the first 4 weeks that was fine, but we keep going forward and I don't have anything else to tell him.

    Part of it may be that he is close to his goal weight. The last 10%, even if it's 20lbs, it still the last 10%. The last few pounds for me came off much slower, but that was intentional.

    This is what I suspect. He should lower his weekly goal to 1/2lbs per week. Maybe up cals a little. Or even take a 1 week diet break.

    Thanks. Currently he's losing about 0.25lb/week, so I think we should stay where we are at. If the weight trending app ever stops trending downward we will have to readjust. He asked about a diet break, I told him 7 weeks was probably a bit premature. Maybe plan one at 12 weeks.

    I have suggested to him that he make an effort to be a little more active over the course of the day, he does have a tendency to sit a long time on days he isn't, and then go 10,000% some days. He does construction work with his dad 1-2 days a week, those are the days the fitbit estimates his calories in the upper 3K to 4K range. Gym days are over 3K, but he's pretty sedentary the 1-3 other days of the week.
  • lg013
    lg013 Posts: 215 Member
    Thyroid shouldn't particularly account for the differences from predicted to tracked TDEE - that's more likely to a hundred or two hundred calories off for someone with a no longer functional thyroid from what I've read. Not to mention, it should manifest as a lack of energy and activity. Still, blood work is usually cheap, so getting a test doesn't seem unreasonable.

    At 7 weeks, it seems unlikely he's retained water from exercise to explain it.

    Are there any foods he tends to regularly eat that you don't? I'm wondering if there's a bad entry or two, but only on things he eats so the calorie is coming in low affecting just his numbers.
    Thyroid shouldn't particularly account for the differences from predicted to tracked TDEE - that's more likely to a hundred or two hundred calories off for someone with a no longer functional thyroid from what I've read. Not to mention, it should manifest as a lack of energy and activity. Still, blood work is usually cheap, so getting a test doesn't seem unreasonable.

    At 7 weeks, it seems unlikely he's retained water from exercise to explain it.

    Are there any foods he tends to regularly eat that you don't? I'm wondering if there's a bad entry or two, but only on things he eats so the calorie is coming in low affecting just his numbers.

    I have thyroid issues and there is always a noticeable drop in energy levels to the point where it’s extremely difficult to upkeep my normal activity (and migraines too). My first sign is always a sudden change in energy levels which means it’s time to get my levels checked. (I also bloat and start to gain weight if I let it go.). If he’s experienced this, get into a doctor sooner rather than later. Getting on the right medications to balance makes a huge difference in my energy levels and weight maintenance.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,223 Member
    I'm skeptical of the accuracy of his fitbit. At 5'10" 195 I'd expect a TDEE more in the 2500 calorie range unless his activity is just insane. I had a similar spurt of recomp when I thought I should be losing weight and what I ultimately discovered was that my heart rate monitor was giving me way too many calories during workouts so I was basically lean bulking instead of cutting. I only discovered this by starting to use the nSuns adaptive TDEE spreadsheet I found on r/fitness (link to the page below). It back-calculates actual TDEE from daily weight and calorie intake. Once I started eating the right amount I when from low 180s to 170 from August to January (so through holidays and general midwest winter when people often struggle to lose weight most).

    https://thefitness.wiki/weight-loss-101/
  • ExistingFish
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
    J72FIT wrote: »
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    Taking a step back...

    Aside from the numbers not lining up the way you'd expect, are there any issues here? Any reason to suspect/worry about a greater health concern?

    2100 cals for maintenance or slightly below with the changes in his body that he's seeing... I'd call that a win.

    No, just that he is overweight. He's lost a lot (a year ago) and some more before that. He was 270 at his highest, he lost that about 3 years ago, down to 210, then he gained back to about 230 and then last year he lost down to below 200, he's just really wanting to go all the way to his goal this time. I think partly because Iost all of my weight, I'm ready to move on to different fitness goals, he feels like he's been left behind.

    I find it frustrating, I keep telling him to count calories and trust that it will work and that it's science and it will work, and for the first 4 weeks that was fine, but we keep going forward and I don't have anything else to tell him.

    Part of it may be that he is close to his goal weight. The last 10%, even if it's 20lbs, it still the last 10%. The last few pounds for me came off much slower, but that was intentional.

    This is what I suspect. He should lower his weekly goal to 1/2lbs per week. Maybe up cals a little. Or even take a 1 week diet break.

    Thanks. Currently he's losing about 0.25lb/week, so I think we should stay where we are at. If the weight trending app ever stops trending downward we will have to readjust. He asked about a diet break, I told him 7 weeks was probably a bit premature. Maybe plan one at 12 weeks.

    I have suggested to him that he make an effort to be a little more active over the course of the day, he does have a tendency to sit a long time on days he isn't, and then go 10,000% some days. He does construction work with his dad 1-2 days a week, those are the days the fitbit estimates his calories in the upper 3K to 4K range. Gym days are over 3K, but he's pretty sedentary the 1-3 other days of the week.

    If the construction is out in the sun and the fitbit uses HR, it might be overestimating. Yes, construction can be hard work, but a HR is going to tend to over calculate work done in heat because the body's heart rate rises to deal with heat, not because of actual increase oxygen demands.

    This is true. But even on his days he sits at home and just goes to church in the AM, that day it said he burned 2,900, which is higher than I expected. We estimated he burns 2500-2600 on average (when calculating his calorie goal) and thus a 2100 calorie goal.

    He started at 1800, he was tired a lot and didn't have any energy at the gym. He felt bad. I just asked him he said for most of June he was trying for 1800, but he felt bad.
  • lg013
    lg013 Posts: 215 Member
    J72FIT wrote: »
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    Taking a step back...

    Aside from the numbers not lining up the way you'd expect, are there any issues here? Any reason to suspect/worry about a greater health concern?

    2100 cals for maintenance or slightly below with the changes in his body that he's seeing... I'd call that a win.

    No, just that he is overweight. He's lost a lot (a year ago) and some more before that. He was 270 at his highest, he lost that about 3 years ago, down to 210, then he gained back to about 230 and then last year he lost down to below 200, he's just really wanting to go all the way to his goal this time. I think partly because Iost all of my weight, I'm ready to move on to different fitness goals, he feels like he's been left behind.

    I find it frustrating, I keep telling him to count calories and trust that it will work and that it's science and it will work, and for the first 4 weeks that was fine, but we keep going forward and I don't have anything else to tell him.

    Part of it may be that he is close to his goal weight. The last 10%, even if it's 20lbs, it still the last 10%. The last few pounds for me came off much slower, but that was intentional.

    This is what I suspect. He should lower his weekly goal to 1/2lbs per week. Maybe up cals a little. Or even take a 1 week diet break.

    Thanks. Currently he's losing about 0.25lb/week, so I think we should stay where we are at. If the weight trending app ever stops trending downward we will have to readjust. He asked about a diet break, I told him 7 weeks was probably a bit premature. Maybe plan one at 12 weeks.

    I have suggested to him that he make an effort to be a little more active over the course of the day, he does have a tendency to sit a long time on days he isn't, and then go 10,000% some days. He does construction work with his dad 1-2 days a week, those are the days the fitbit estimates his calories in the upper 3K to 4K range. Gym days are over 3K, but he's pretty sedentary the 1-3 other days of the week.

    If the construction is out in the sun and the fitbit uses HR, it might be overestimating. Yes, construction can be hard work, but a HR is going to tend to over calculate work done in heat because the body's heart rate rises to deal with heat, not because of actual increase oxygen demands.

    This is true. But even on his days he sits at home and just goes to church in the AM, that day it said he burned 2,900, which is higher than I expected. We estimated he burns 2500-2600 on average (when calculating his calorie goal) and thus a 2100 calorie goal.

    He started at 1800, he was tired a lot and didn't have any energy at the gym. He felt bad. I just asked him he said for most of June he was trying for 1800, but he felt bad.

    That’s the worst when you don’t have the energy for the gym. You mentioned he was working to lose weight and more successful prior to this...was he on an 1800 plan then? If so, were his energy levels drastically different?
  • poisonesse
    poisonesse Posts: 573 Member
    did you try swapping Fitbits? Maybe his is wonky. NO activity monitor is 100%, they just give you an idea. In some cases a good idea, in other cases... not so much.
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,002 Member
    edited July 2019
    He is 5'10", 195lbs. He is aiming to lose 15-20 more pounds. His weight has plateaued around 196-197 for months.

    I am 5'10" at 178lbs and my maintenance/TDEE is 2600 cals/day.

    I think your husband can go as high as 2500 cals per day and still lose. I would go slow. 100 cals per day per week. Worst case, if he starts to gain you can go back down.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,743 Member
    Is he on any medications? That can affect weight loss.
  • ExistingFish
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
    Is he on any medications? That can affect weight loss.

    No prescriptions, he takes a multivitamin, fish oil supplement, magnesium supplement, an antihistamine, and allergy nose spray.

    I take all the same supplements, I don't think they are known to have an effect on weight loss.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    There's a lot more that goes into energy balance than simply counting calories eaten and tracking calories burned.

    What he said.
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    sounds to me like he is eating more that you are unaware of... secret eaters type thing. I am 155 and lose on 1900, so either his hormones are out of whack, or he is eating more than you think he is

    This is what I was thinking.
  • ExistingFish
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    erickirb wrote: »
    sounds to me like he is eating more that you are unaware of... secret eaters type thing. I am 155 and lose on 1900, so either his hormones are out of whack, or he is eating more than you think he is

    This is what I was thinking.

    He would have to be way sneakier than he is to do that. Poor weighing skills would be more likely, although I've watched him weigh, he seems to do it correctly.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,242 Member
    Which part of all the inches is not good? To me that part is what sounds wonderful and way better than a scale change. Also what has been the trend change over time? I get that he had a scale fluctuation this morning, but has the trend not generally been slightly down?

    In terms of troubleshooting water weight:

    Is he sore from the training?

    Given that you guys work from home, is he generally sedentary other than during the exercise sessions?

    Is his heart rate slightly higher than average perhaps?
  • ExistingFish
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    Which part of all the inches is not good? To me that part is what sounds wonderful and way better than a scale change. Also what has been the trend change over time? I get that he had a scale fluctuation this morning, but has the trend not generally been slightly down?

    In terms of troubleshooting water weight:

    Is he sore from the training?

    Given that you guys work from home, is he generally sedentary other than during the exercise sessions?

    Is his heart rate slightly higher than average perhaps?

    No the inches are fantastic.

    The trend has been downward, about 0.25/lb per week. I feel like 0.5lb/week should not be so difficult to achieve.

    Sore from training definitely accounts for the scale fluctuation this morning.

    I'd say lightly active, he does the laundry and chores and stuff and cares for 3 little kids.
  • ExistingFish
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
    pjshawley wrote: »
    I hesitate to post as I am no expert on this. The only question I didn't see posted was the possibility that he could be gaining muscle weight from his training efforts that is off-setting his fat loss. Just a thought.

    Given his measurement changes, something has to be happening, but it is hard to build significant muscle mass at a deficit, or even at maintenance, so we haven't expected too much in the way of additional muscle mass.
  • Hannahwalksfar
    Hannahwalksfar Posts: 572 Member
    Could hebe eating when you’re not around